Theft Lands Two Teens In Police Custody

Updated:
Friday, April 27, 2007 6:36 AM EDT

Tulsa Police say two teenagers thought they were going to get away with swiping a few four-wheelers, but their joyride came to a halt, when officers caught them and taught them a lesson. The teens started the night trying to pull off a burglary. The News On 6â€™s Ashli Sims reports they ended it, by pushing their prizes back to the rightful owner.

Affordable Merchandise sells a little bit of everything, stuff to outfit your indoors and to enjoy your outdoors. It was an all-terrain vehicle, or ATV, that proved to be too much of a temptation for thieves.

"The police called at four o'clock this morning," said Affordable Merchandise owner Janice Andrews. â€œThere were some problems at the store and wanted to know how long it would take us to get there."

Someone saw two teenagers walking two ATVs up the street and called the cops. When officers spotted the teens, they took off running across the highway, eventually they hid up a tree. A short time later, the ATVs were found and both boys were in cuffs.

The Andrews say they put the ATVs in a trailer for the night. The trailer was locked and the ATVs were locked inside the trailer. So, the Andrews believe the thieves knew what they were looking for and came prepared.

"They must have seen us put them in there last night, because of the weather and everything,â€ said Andrews. â€œWe usually bring them back into the store, but we didn't that night. But they were locked up and they were secured even with a lock inside of the trailer."

It took some work to take the four-wheelers and officers decided the two teens would work to put them back. With shackles shuffling their steps, the boy's heaved the ATVs back to where they belong.

"And with the shackles on, I hope that it taught them a lesson. I really do for the children's sake," said Andrews.

Andrews says she really holds the parents of the two boys responsible. She wants to know why they were out at 3 in the morning, in the first place.